History WhamShot / LiveActionTV

** The Season 4 finale, "[[Recap/StrangerThingsS4E9ThePiggyback The Piggyback]]" has three of these:

* In the series 4 ''Series/MiamiVice'' episode "Honor Among Thieves?", during a meeting between drug dealer Palmo's gang , the camera pans around to reveal that one of the members, Paul Delgado is the same serial killer that has been murdering young women throughout the episode.

** ''Series/PowerRangersBeastMorphers'': [[spoiler:The revelation that BigBad Evox is actually a reincarnation of ''[[Series/PowerRangersRPM Venjix]]''.]]

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS37E2TheGhostMonument The Ghost Monument]]": The Doctor and company, after getting teleported into deep space, wind up in the company of the two finalists of a deadly race, who are told by organizer Ilin that their final objective is the titular Ghost Monument, so named by the planet Desolation's original settlers because it appears, insubstantial, every thousand years. After the racers leave, the Doctor, on a hunch, demands Ilin show her what the Ghost Monument ''looks'' like. He pulls up a hologram, and it turns out to be exactly what the Doctor came for: the missing TARDIS.

* ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'':
** In the episode "Turn, Turn, Turn", the signal is finally decrypted and it's ''not'' good news: OUT OF THE SHADOWS, INTO THE LIGHT: HYDRA.
** In the same episode, Coulson's face changing right after Garrett says something only Coulson knew: "...the same machine she used on that bitch in the flower dress."
** Used in the episode "Shadows" when it turns out Simmons isn't really there and Fitz is talking to himself.

* ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse''
** ''Series/WandaVision''
*** At the end of the first episode, it is shown that someone in a S.W.O.R.D facility is watching the "Sitcom".
*** After running into the Beekeeper, Wanda calmly rewinds time, so that she and Vision never left the house.
*** After she hurls Monica out of [=WestView=], Wanda briefly turns around to see Vision's dead corpse.
*** Before Wanda and Vision can get into a fight, someone's knocking at the door. Wanda opens it to find that it's ''[[BackFromTheDead Pietro]]''. Oh but it's not just ''any'' Pietro, but [[Film/XMenFilmSeries the version of Pietro played by]] ''Creator/EvanPeters''.
*** Wanda after feeling that Vision has escaped from Westview, freezes everyone in place, and extends the barrier of the Hex beyond the limits.
*** Wanda heading down to Agnes' basement to look for the twins, and coming across some sinister altar. Agnes meeting her and revealing she too has magic.
--->'''[[FalseFriend Agnes/Agatha Harkness]]''': [[WhamLine Wanda, Wanda, Wanda! You didn't think you were the only magical girl in town, did you?]]
*** In a Mid-Credits scene Monica trying to break into the basement, only for her to also fall under Agatha's spell, with "Pietro" appearing behind.
--->'''"Pietro"'''': Snoopers gonna snoop.
*** In a flashback Wanda, after being allowed to examined Vision's corpse by S.W.O.R.D. drives to the real Westview, and in a moment of sorrow, creates the Hex, and "Vision".
*** During the battle against Agatha, Wanda fully embraces her destiny as the Scarlet Witch, and creates a new costume for herself.
*** In a mid-credit scene, Monica is told to meet with a S.W.O.R.D agent, which is revealed to have been a Skrull the entire time, who has a message from a friend, heavily implied to be Nick Fury.
*** Post-credit In a remote cottage, Wanda is shown living peacefully in seclusion, until an astral form of her, dressed in her Scarlett Witch outfit, is seen in the back room studying the Darkhold, when she hears her children crying out for her.
** ''Series/TheFalconAndTheWinterSoldier''
*** After handing over the shield to the "Captain America Museum", Sam (and Bucky) are horrified to find someone else announced as the "New Captain America".
*** John Walker, in a very un-Steve like move, pulling a gun out in the middle of combat.
*** The revelation of Isaiah Bradley, a Black Super-Soldier that had been dosed during the Korean War, then later imprisoned and continually experimented on by the American Government after Steve was frozen in the iceberg.
*** Then there is the revelation that there are still 12 vials of the Super Soldier Serum out in the world.
*** After saying goodbye to Sam and Bucky, Sharon gets into an undisclosed car, informing the driver there has been a problem.
*** Bucky tells Sam and Zemo he needs to take a walk to clear his head, and runs into Ayo, demanding he surrender Zemo over to Wakanda.
*** John Walker nonchalantly standing with Captain America's shield, stained with the blood of a Flag Smasher he just bludgeoned to death in broad daylight.
** ''Series/{{Loki|2021}}''
*** Sylvie killing The One Above All, then watching in horror as the Time Line begins to splinter.
%%** ''Series/{{Hawkeye|2021}}

** ''Series/PowerRangersBeastMorphers'': [[spoiler:The revelation that BigBad Evox is actually a reincarnation of ''[[Series/PowerRangersRPM Venjix]]''. MassOhCrap doesn't ''begin'' to cover it.]]

** "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E2DayOfTheMoon "Day of the Moon]]": After the Doctor fails to rescue a little girl, she wanders out into the streets. A nearby homeless man asks if she's all right, and she says she's dying, but it'll be okay. She then regenerates, just as the Doctor and Master had.

%%** ''Series/{{Loki|2021}}''

** ''Series/PowerRangersBeastMorphers: [[spoiler:The revelation that BigBad Evox is actually a reincarnation of ''[[Series/PowerRangersRPM Venjix]]''. MassOhCrap doesn't ''begin'' to cover it.]]

* The climax of ''Series/PowerRangersLostGalaxy's'' "Power of Pink" has Pink Ranger Kendrix Morgan go into a dangerous series of forcefields to destroy an ArtifactOfDoom that would destroy the Rangers space colony. She succeeds but gets caught up in a massive explosion. Minutes later her fellow Rangers (and the audience) see [[HeroicSacrifice her]] ''[[TheHeroDies ghost]].''

* In ''Series/PowerRangersDinoCharge'':
** [[FauxAffablyEvil Hec]][[BigBad kyl]] has two of them, one in each part of the series. First one appears at the end of 'One More Energem', setting him up as the next BigBad after Sledge. Second one is in 'Wings of Danger' and shows his origin story.
** The Rangers send a singular evil version, compared to their own, of their Energems into space on a satellite. The Rangers then direct everyone in the sunlit side of Earth to point mirrors at the satellite, to reflect light to overload and destroy it. The problem is, its destruction causes it to turn into a black hole that not only defeats Sledge by pulling his ship in, but its gravity also pulls in '''[[ApocalypseHow THE ENTIRE PLANET EARTH.]]''' (It gets better by [[TimeyWimeyBall time-travel shenanigans]].)

* In the ''Series/{{Arrow}}'' episode [[Recap/ArrowS5E7Vigilante "Vigilante"]], Artemis is standing on a rooftop when Prometheus [[EnemyRisingBehind appears behind her]]...only for her to turn and ''smile'', revealing that she's TheMole.

** In the series finale, the Galactica has jumped into an unknown solar system when Starbuck puts in coordinates from a song she heard from her childhood. When Roslin asks where has she taken them, the scene switches to outside the Galactica, and the camera pans ups showing... Earth... Not Colonial Earth, ''our'' '''UsefulNotes/{{Earth}}'''.

* ''Series/{{Columbo}}'': The end of "Suitable for Framing" follows a WhamLine with a masterful example of this this trope. Columbo reveals to the murderer, Dale Kingston, that he's dusting the paintings that Kingston has planted in his victim's ex-wife's house for fingerprints... but for ''Columbo's'' fingerprints, not Kingston's, as Columbo had touched them in an earlier scene where Kingston was in possession of them. Kingston [[VillainousBreakdown loses his cool]] and begins shouting about how it's a set-up and that Columbo has planted his fingerprints on them in order to entrap Kingston. It's an argument that could conceivably work... until Columbo silently removes his hands from his pockets, where he's had them all scene, to reveal that he's been wearing gloves the whole time.

* The 1981 TV adaptation of ''Series/{{The Day of the Triffids|1981}}'' uses two understated but effective Wham Shots in quick succession in the first episode. The protagonist is lying in a hospital bed with [[TemporaryBlindness his eyes covered in bandages]] that are due to be removed later that day, dictating a letter to a friend into a tape recorder. He remarks that he can't hear any traffic from the nearby main road so it must be somewhere in the small hours...and then the camera pans and zooms towards the window, showing broad daylight outside. A few moments later, he mentions in passing that a nurse comes in with a cup of tea and helps him to the bathroom at 7 AM on the dot... and the camera zooms in on the digital clock on the nightstand, which reads 7:53. And then a few exposition-via-flashback scenes later the clock chimes the hour, and suddenly [[OhCrap the protagonist finds out what the audience already knew.]]

** One that's shown up a few times is the revelation that the interior of some innocent-looking structure is actually a TARDIS — such as when Vicki and Steven find their way into the Monk's TARDIS in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS2E9TheTimeMeddler "The Time Meddler"]], or when the Doctor bursts into the upstairs flat in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E11TheLodger "The Lodger"]]. For that matter, the first time that Barbara crosses the threshold of the Doctor's TARDIS in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS1E1AnUnearthlyChild "An Unearthly Child"]]. "The Time Meddler"'s example was, of course, a double-whammy, as it revealed that there actually ''are'' other [=TARDISes=] in existence.
** One of the biggest wham shots in the entire series is in the final scene of the last episode of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS4E2TheTenthPlanet "The Tenth Planet"]] when the Doctor [[TheNthDoctor regenerates]] for the very first time. [[MissingEpisode The episode itself is missing]], but luckily, the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmXoHKzp4Lc regeneration footage]] itself survives.
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E13ThePartingOfTheWays "The Parting of the Ways"]]:

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E3SchoolReunion "School Reunion"]]: It's not a surprise for the viewers, but Sarah Jane gets quite the shock when, after hiding in a storage room off the school gym, she turns to find the TARDIS parked inside.
** The viewer is given absolutely no clue why Madame de Pompadour is being targeted throughout the entirety of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E4TheGirlInTheFireplace "The Girl in the Fireplace"]]… until the final shot, when the camera pulls out to reveal that the name of the derelict ship is the S.S. ''Madame de Pompadour''.
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E12ArmyOfGhosts "Army of Ghosts"]]: The mysterious Void ship begins to open, and Rose and Mickey are expecting Cybermen... only for four [[FromBadToWorse Daleks]] to emerge instead.
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E8HumanNature "Human Nature"]]: It's more of a sound effect than an actual camera shot, but the scene where Joan Redfern checks John Smith's heartbeat after his fall down the stairs really hammers home that ''whatever'' is going on with the Doctor is more than just a standard case of LaserGuidedAmnesia.
** A rather stunningly well-delivered one occurs in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E11Utopia "Utopia"]] when Martha notices Professor Yana's pocket watch.
** Near the end of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E1PartnersInCrime "Partners in Crime"]], Donna leaves a message with a bystander on her way to join the Doctor. Then the bystander turns to face the camera... and it's [[TheBusCameBack Rose]].
** From [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E10VincentAndTheDoctor "Vincent and the Doctor"]] comes a particularly harrowing one: after meeting Vincent van Gogh and facing down the nightmarish monster haunting his final days, showing him the TARDIS, and revealing his future legacy, the Doctor and Amy excitedly return to a present-day art exhibit they saw at the start of the episode. They're horrified to see that not a single new piece of art has appeared. For all their efforts, Vincent still killed himself.
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E2DayOfTheMoon "Day of the Moon"]]: After the Doctor fails to rescue a little girl, she wanders out into the streets. A nearby homeless man asks if she's all right, and she says she's dying, but it'll be okay. She then regenerates, just as the Doctor and Master had.
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E7AGoodManGoesToWar "A Good Man Goes to War"]]: The prayer leaf given by Lorna Bucket to Amy Pond shows the name of her daughter, Melody Pond, in the language of the Gamma Forest. The telepathic translation circuits of the TARDIS eventually show it in English: "River Song." [[labelnote:note]]because they don't have a word for "pond"[[/labelnote]]
** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E1AsylumOfTheDaleks "Asylum of the Daleks"]], when the Doctor discovers Oswin is a Dalek.
** From [[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E13TheNameOfTheDoctor "The Name of the Doctor"]]:

** This is how the Twelfth Doctor is revealed in the 50[-[[superscript:th]]-] anniversary special [[Recap/DoctorWho50thASTheDayOfTheDoctor "The Day of the Doctor"]].
** It was spoiled in the trailer and somewhat predictable in the episode, but the double-doors closing to show windows that look like Cybermen eyes was still a great wham shot in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E11DarkWater "Dark Water"]].
** Although spoilered by the BBC promotional material, the closing shot of the globe-enclosed Citadel of Gallifrey in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E11HeavenSent "Heaven Sent"]] still packs a wallop.
** Again, if one managed to avoid the promo spoilers, [[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E11WorldEnoughAndTime "World Enough and Time"]] shows the colony ship being from Mondas, and this being an origin of the Cybermen (with the [[Recap/DoctorWhoS4E2TheTenthPlanet original 1966 design]]). And the return of the (Harold Saxon) Master as he takes off his disguise.
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS37E2TheGhostMonument "The Ghost Monument"]]: The Doctor and company, after getting teleported into deep space, wind up in the company of the two finalists of a deadly race, who are told by organizer Ilin that their final objective is the titular Ghost Monument, so named by the planet Desolation's original settlers because it appears, insubstantial, every thousand years. After the racers leave, the Doctor, on a hunch, demands Ilin show her what the Ghost Monument ''looks'' like. He pulls up a hologram, and it turns out to be exactly what the Doctor came for: the missing TARDIS.
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS38E1E2Spyfall "Spyfall"]]:
*** In the {{cliffhanger}} of part 1, O [[spoiler:pulls a matchbox out of his pocket to reveal the body of the ''real'' O, having been shrunk with a [[ShrinkRay Tissue Compression Eliminator]], otherwise known as ''{{the Master}}'s'' WeaponOfChoice in the classic series...]]
*** Near the end of part 2, the Doctor [[spoiler:returns to Gallifrey only to find that the Master was ''not'' lying when he said it had been destroyed, beholding the ruins of the Citadel.]]
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS38E5FugitiveOfTheJudoon "Fugitive of the Judoon"]]:
*** Graham's been teleported to a mysterious location, and when his abductor teleports into the room, he's [[spoiler:[[TheBusCameBack Captain Jack Harkness]]]].
*** Ruth Clayton smashes the glass of a fire alarm (which has [[spoiler:Circular Gallifreyan writing on the sides]]), and [[spoiler:the familiar golden light of a [[HumanityEnsues Chameleon Arch]] erupts from it]].
*** The Doctor, excavating the grave near the lighthouse, finds [[spoiler:the words "POLICE PUBLIC CALL BOX" staring up at her]].

* In ''Series/TheFlash2014'' the episode "King Shark", TheStinger shows Earth-2 as the "Man in the Mask", quivers while Zoom returns, carrying Jay's corpse, only for the reveal that Zoom ''[[NotQuiteDead is]]'' [[EvilAllAlong "Jay"]].

** Later on in the episode [[Recap/TheFlash2014S3E7KillerFrost "Killer Frost"]], the final shot of Julian opening a cabinet in the Forensics Lab...and pulling out the [[TheDragon Alchemy]] costume.

** The Season 2 finale, “Mizumono”, in addition to being an InternalReveal of Hannibal’s true colors, has this when Will, ready to confront Hannibal, comes across [[spoiler: Abigail Hobbs,]] who was thought to be one of Hannibal’s victims in the season 1 finale. However, this is somewhat undercut by [[spoiler: Hannibal almost immediately murdering her for real.]]

** 1x09: Combined with WhamLine to reveal that [[spoiler:Annalise Keating]] was present when Wes went back for the murder weapon.
** 2x09: When ADA Sinclair's car pulls up outside the mansion, Bonnie is driving. [[spoiler:Then we see that Sinclair is in the trunk, already dead]].
** 3x09: The person under the sheet is finally revealed to be [[spoiler:Wes Gibbins]].

* In ''Series/TheMandalorian,'' we have the FirstEpisodeSpoiler when we see what "asset" the title character has been sent to retrieve: [[spoiler:a baby member of Yoda's species]].

* ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'': In "The Andorian Incident," Shran, and fellow members of the Imperial Guard of Andoria, have been holding Vulcans hostage at a Vulcan monastery, plus Archer, Trip & T'Pol who had the bad luck of showing up for a visit. The Andorians, who dole out threats to the Vulcans and take their time roughing up Archer, believe that the Vulcans in question have been using a long-range sensor array to spy on Andoria, a violation of their peace treaty. The Vulcans, generally known as a more peaceful people, brush off such outlandish accusations, as does Archer and company, and they eventually get the upper hand, sparking a big shootout in the catacombs of the monastery. A few shots dislodge a curtain covering a large metal door, and Archer, realizing something's up, calls for a cease fire long enough to open it... which reveals a '''long-range sensor array.''' At no point did Archer or any of his crew, especially T'Pol, who'd always been loyal to her people, consider that ''the Andorians were right.'' The ramifications of this discovery gradually played out over the rest of the series.
* In ''Series/Supergirl2015''[='s=] part of ''Series/{{Elseworlds}}'', things seem to be winding down. As Barry and Ollie go to share a drink, Ollie gets a call from Batwoman - it seems that the BigBad of the event, Dr. John Deegan, has made a friend in Arkham Asylum. We then visit the Asylum where we hear a man talking to him. As we get to his cell, he tells him that [[spoiler:"Worlds will live. Worlds will die. And the universe will never be the same." before turning around and revealing himself to be the ''Psycho Pirate''. Cue "Coming Fall 2019: ''Series/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths''".]]

* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'': In the final scene of "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS2E51TheInvaders The Invaders]]", after the woman destroys the seemingly tiny aliens' spacecraft, the camera pans to reveal [[spoiler:the words "U.S. Air Force Space Probe No. 1" on the opposite side, indicating that the invaders were humans and the woman is a giant alien]].

* The season 2 finale of''Series/YoungSheldon''; CBS promised it would be an ending you wouldn't forget, and they were right. Sheldon has invited his whole class to hear the Nobel Prize winners on the radio, but no one, not even his Asian friend Tam or his mentor Professor Sturgis [[note]] Due to having recently had a mental breakdown over never winning the Nobel himself [[/note]] shows up. The adult Sheldon narrates how at the time, he felt like a neutrino (a type of particle that never bonds). Cut to a bespectacled young boy also listening to the radio:

* On ''Series/TheWestWing'' after the shooting the camera follows Toby around the scene, and all of a sudden comes across Josh, who has been shot and has a massive bloody chest wound. In that same episode, Secret Service agent Ron Butterfield finding the President's gunshot wound.

%%** ''Series/{{Loki}}''

*** The revelation of Issaih Bradley, a Black Super-Soldier that had been dosed during the Korean War, then later imprisoned and continually experimented on by the American Government after Steve was frozen in the iceberg.
*** Their is the revelation that there are still 12 vials of the Super Soldier Serum out in the world.

** The final episode ended with a shot of a an aged Merlin walking down a road as a [[DistantFinale truck]] whizzes past, revealing that he's immortal and is still waiting for Arthur in the 21st century.

* ''Series/OnceUponATime'': The urn full of magic that even [[MagnificentBastard Rumple]] felt was too dangerous to use tips over. Blue liquid pours out over the ritual sigil left on the floor, taking humanoid shape...and [[WesternAnimation/Frozen2013 Queen Elsa]] shoots a blast of frost from her fingertips before walking out.

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E7AGoodManGoesToWar "A Good Man Goes to War"]]: The prayer leaf given by Lorna Bucket to Amy Pond shows the name of her daughter, Melody Pond, in the language of the Gamma Forest. The TARDIS eventually shows the translation in English: "River Song." [[labelnote:note]]because they don't have a word for "pond"[[/labelnote]]

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E7AGoodManGoesToWar "A Good Man Goes to War"]]: The prayer leaf given by Lorna Bucket to Amy Pond shows the name of her daughter, Melody Pond, in the language of the Gamma Forest. The TARDIS eventually shows the translation (because they don't have a word for "pond"): "River Song."

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E7AGoodManGoesToWar "A Good Man Goes to War"]]: The prayer leaf given by Lorna Bucket to Amy Pond shows the name of her daughter, Melody Pond, in the language of the Gamma Forest. The TARDIS eventually shows the translation: "River Song."